Crazy feelings

"Get down!"

Zia ducked behind a statue as something exploded. She wasn't sure what, and she supposed that it really didn't matter. The whole freaking museum and every object in it could be reduced to dust for all she cared, now that the object they'd come to find was safely in their possession. She hugged Cassandra's Codex to her chest, shielding it from the fragments of stone that were raining down around her as Carter darted around the side of the statue to crouch beside her.

"Did you get it?" he asked.

"I got it," said Zia, then repeated it louder for Sadie and Nico to hear. "I've got it!"

"About time!" Sadie shouted. She might have said more but something else exploded, drowning it out.

"Time to go, then!" Nico's voice rose above the din. There was a huge crash that sounded like it came from where his voice was emanating from, that made Zia's heart leap into her throat.

She peeked around the statue she was taking cover behind and tried to find Nico, but a gigantic cloud of dust and the unreliable light of flickering flames obscured her vision.

"Nico!" she shouted. "Are you okay?"

"Ouch! Merda! Gods damn it, son of a hydra!" Nico shouted right back, but not at Zia. More likely he was duking it out with one of the museum's stone guardians.

"Ha-di!" Hieroglyphics blazed in the air as Sadie used what Zia assumed was her favorite spell. The sound of stones shattering and clattering to the marble floors could be heard clearly on the other side of the room.

"Thanks, Sadie."

"No problem, Death Boy."

"Careful," Carter cautioned as Zia stepped out. He had his sword in hand, naturally, and moved so that he was right beside her, ready to attack or defend if needed, but careful not to get too far ahead of her or to get in her way.

Zia's heart gave an odd pang that she wasn't really sure how to deal with. She didn't know how she felt about Carter's determined protectiveness of her. Part of her wanted to find it annoying. She had been a warrior far longer than he had. She didn't need him of all people looking after her. She was a trained magician with powers far beyond the norm for the House of Life's mages. The former Chief Lector had trusted her implicitly, had hand-picked her for many a dangerous mission, and Desjardins, the current Chief Lector, respected her skills and powers and intelligence, even if he did want her killed on sight. The idea of her being dependant on a mere boy who'd barely even begun to train in magic was ludicrous!

But at the same time . . . it was kind of nice having him there. He had good insights into things, and he was reliable at least . . . and very easy on the eyes. Not that Zia spent an undue amount of time looking! It was just . . . noticeable. His good looks, that is. And the way he bit his lip when he was sizing up enemies, or how his eyes actually seemed to glow when he was using magic, and how after a tough fight his clothes would sort of stick to his body because he'd been sweating, and show off how ripped those muscles he was hiding away were . . . those were all things that Zia had really just noticed in passing. And she couldn't honestly say that she didn't appreciate them, just a little.

"Grrr," Zia muttered, frustrated with herself and where her thoughts were heading.

"Uh, Zia? Did you just say 'Grrr?'" asked Carter.

"I most certainly did not!" snapped Zia. Then she pointed her wand in the direction where Nico's and Sadie's voices had come from and cast a spell to clear the air, so to speak. The dust that had been hanging in the air was all swept to the sides, improving visibility, though the flames that had spawned during their fight continued to flicker. How, Zia wasn't really sure, since everything in the room was either glass, stone, or metal, but leave it to Nico and Sadie to figure out a way to set even unflamable things on fire.